There are somewhere north of three thousand bars in London, and most of them are fine. Fine is not what you are looking for on a Thursday night with one evening to spend. This is the shortlist: the bars we actually go back to, sorted by what you want the night to be rather than by postcode.
A note before the list. London bars divide into two camps that rarely overlap: the hotel bars, which are formal, expensive and almost always worth it, and the independents, which are cheaper, harder to get into and where the drinks are often better. We have included both. Where a place does not take reservations, we have said so, because turning up at nine to a two hour wait is its own kind of evening.
If you want the best drink in London
Connaught Bar, Mayfair
Still the benchmark, and still worth the money. The martini trolley comes to the table, you choose your gin and your bitters, and it is made in front of you with a theatricality that should be annoying and somehow is not. Book, wear a jacket, and go early if you want to hear yourself think. Expect Mayfair hotel prices, which is to say the mid twenties and up for a drink.
Tayēr + Elementary, Old Street
Two rooms, two moods. Elementary at the front is standing room, fast, and does an excellent job of making a complicated drink in ninety seconds. Tayēr at the back is the serious one, seated, more expensive, and among the most technically interesting bars in Europe. Go to the front on the way somewhere. Go to the back if the bar itself is the evening.
Satan’s Whiskers, Bethnal Green
A menu that changes daily, taxidermy on the walls, and hip hop loud enough that conversation takes effort. It has been Bethnal Green’s neighbourhood cocktail bar since 2013 and is reliably some of the best drink making in the city at roughly half a Mayfair price. It does take reservations, but only by telephone, and it takes walk-ins as well. Ring ahead on a Friday.
If you want to impress someone
Dukes Bar, St James’s
The martini here is made on a trolley, poured from bottles kept in the freezer, and is strong enough that the bar limits you to two. That is not a gimmick, it is a sensible policy. The room is small, quiet, wood panelled, and feels like a private club that has decided to let you in. Jackets preferred. This is the single most reliable “impress a guest” room in London.
American Bar, The Savoy
One of the oldest surviving cocktail bars in the world, and it knows it. Live piano, white jackets, a menu that changes with an amount of ceremony. It is touristy in the early evening and much better after ten. Book ahead, or arrive at opening and take a seat at the bar itself, which is the best place to sit anyway.
Scarfes Bar, Holborn
Rosewood’s bar, named for the cartoonist whose work covers the walls. Fire lit in winter, live jazz most nights, deep armchairs, and a room that makes almost any conversation go better. Less of a scene than the Mayfair hotel bars and considerably easier to get into on short notice.
If you want to find it yourself
Nightjar, Old Street
Down a staircase behind an unmarked door, live music seven nights, and a drinks list that runs to a small book. It has been doing the speakeasy thing since before every other bar in London tried it, and it is still the one that does it best. Book, because the walk-in queue is real.
Bar Termini, Soho
Thirty seats, an Italian counter, and a negroni that arrives pre-batched, correctly chilled, in the right glass, in under a minute. Tables turn quickly here by design, which is the appeal rather than a complaint: this is a bar for one excellent drink on the way to somewhere else, not a place to settle in for the evening.
Swift, Soho
Upstairs is quick and bright and does a very good pre-dinner drink. Downstairs is dark, low ceilinged, and has one of the better whisky lists in central London. Most people never make it past the ground floor, which is a mistake.
If you want to keep going
Coupette, Bethnal Green
French in temperament, calvados heavy, and open later than most of its neighbours. The apple martini here has almost nothing to do with the drink you are picturing and is the reason to come. A good third stop, and a short walk from Satan’s Whiskers if you are making a night of Bethnal Green rather than crossing town.
Practical notes
Booking. Hotel bars take reservations and you should use them, particularly Thursday to Saturday. Nightjar in particular is worth booking, because the walk-in queue is real. The east London independents are more relaxed about it, though Satan’s Whiskers will take a table over the phone if you think ahead.
Dress. Mayfair and St James’s hotel bars expect a jacket and will occasionally enforce it. Trainers will stop you at the door at Dukes and the Connaught. Everywhere east of the City has no dress code worth worrying about.
Timing. Central London bars are at their worst between six and eight, when they fill with people finishing work. Either go before six or go after ten. The room is a different place at both ends.
What things cost. Budget the low to mid twenties for a cocktail in a Mayfair or St James’s hotel bar, and somewhere in the teens in Soho and Shoreditch. Prices move, so treat these as bands rather than quotes. Service is usually included in the hotel bars and usually is not elsewhere.
If cocktails specifically are the point of the evening rather than the room, we have a separate list of the best cocktail bars in London, which goes deeper on the drink making and lighter on the setting. For summer, and for anyone who has been told to find somewhere with a view, London’s rooftop bars is the one to read. And if the bar is the start of a longer night rather than the whole of it, London after dark covers where to go once the kitchens close.